Los Angeles County Public Library Annual Report 1985 - 1986

We saluted the Statue of Liberty
on its 100th Birthday
Productivity was the theme of the year. Productive innova­tions
helped Library staff cope with increases in business
demand. It was a successful race to keep ahead of service
demand within existing resources. In all divisions of the
Library there was constant switching of manual tasks such
as statistical reports to microcomputer data bases. Many
segments of the Library manuals were revised and improved.
Several studies were completed to help management posture
for a better operation in the future. These included the
Antelope Valley Study of the next decade's information
needs, sophistication and automation of the Library Activi­ty
Index, and a study of reference patterns within a lai:ge
library. The City of Pomona asked the County Library to
analyze provision of library service to the City.
It was an active labor year during which a one-day staff work
action closed 66 of the 91 libraries. Bonuses for library super­visors
were implemented as was the Fair Labor Standards
Act policy for overtime. Planning began for a major Public
Services reorganization effort.
While recovering from an arson fire at our own Bell Gardens
Library, the shocking news reached us of the fire at the
historic Central Library of the Los Angeles Public Library
(LAPL). Many Los Angeles County librarians rushed to help
salvage the books. Librarians ably served the increased
demands of the fire-displaced patrons of LAPL.
The slowing of the growth in materials' circulation can be
attributed to many projects including an unusually high
number of building closures due to building renovations, in­stallation
of conduit in preparation for the automated circula­tion
system, and the nearly two month closure of the A C
Bilbrew Library for the Martin Luther King Jr. Exhibit and
Tribute.
It was a year of frustration as high hopes were dashed when
the legislature failed to approve a bill to allow the electorate
to vote on bonds for library construction. It was also a year
of happiness in which the Governor added funding to the
Public Library Fund and to the literacy program.
We were saddened by the death of Marion Williams,
a staff member who per­sonified
the general staff ex­cellence
and was the first
employee honored as the
County Employee of the
Month.
This year managers made
3,076 visits to libraries with all
libraries visited at least once
during the year.
Highlights among the goals for
next year are reorganization of
the Public Services Division,
selection of a vendor to pro­vide
the Library's automated
circulation system, and open­ing
of a new replacement library in Willowbrook.
Linda F. Crismond
County Librarian
PUBLIC LIBRARY BUDGET
1984 - 85 198S - 86 Change
Salaries & Employee
Benefits
$ 19,578,753 $20,155,319 $ 576,566
Services & Supplies 17,559,973 21,372,861 3,812,888
Fixed Assets 1,126,403 119031585 7771182
$ 38,265,129 $43,431,765 $ 5,166,636
General Reserves 410,000 410,000 -0-
Est. Delinquency 8341866 11224!127 389,261
Requirements $ 39,509,995 $ 45,0651892 $ 5.555,897
Surplus $2,815,879 $ 4,523,201 $ 1,707.322
Revenue 5,229,051 6,197,449 968,398
Augmentation Funds 16,911,800 18,490,840 1,579,040
Tax Levy 14.5531265 151854,402 1,301 , 137
Available Funds $ 39,5091995 $ 45,0651892 $ 525551897
2
3
YEAR AT A GLANCE
The 91 libraries, 6 bookmobiles, and 10 institutional libraries
were open 249,860 hours of service with a staff of 1,396.
Services and Resources Compared to Last Year
11,795,164 materials a 1.0% increase
borrowed per capita, 45,365
per day
2,640,000 materials used in
libraries took 46,000 page
hours to reshelve
ll,189,314 questions were
answered with 648,725
more questions asked than
last year, 43,035 daily
$45.0 million operations
budget
935,921 people registered
with 17,835 new registrants
279,665 cataloged books
were added
25,346 cataloged titles were
added
72,766 children enjoyed
storytime
4,461 people belonged to 55
Friends groups
I, 719 volunteers contributed
85,371 hours
$436,374 contributions
enhanced the basic budget
231 articles were written
about the Library; 21 radio
and television programs
featured the Library.
adds another 23 .0 %
a 6. 2 % increase
a 13.9% increase
a 1. 9 % increase
a 29.0% increase
an increase of 22.9%
an 8 % decrease
a . 3 % increase in
membership
a 17.6% increase in
hours
a 124.7% increase in
dollars contributed
DISTRIBUTION OF TOTAL BUDGET
1985186
Services and
Supplies 38%
Major Equipment/
Suucrures 4%
Salaries 46%
- Literacy student and tutor study at Library Language Leaming
Center
Service Responded
To People's Needs
The Los Angeles County
Public Library staff continued
with a strong, helpful service
orientation. This service
catered to the unique
characteristics of the widely
varied population living in the
3,100 square mile service area.
A sampling of programs
follow:
LIBRARIES SERVED
CHILDREN
Though the County identified
l,500 unattended (latchkey)
children in libraries each day,
progress was made in helping
librarians handle the situation.
The Woodcraft Rangers, with
United Way funding, con­ducted
a six month pilot pro­gram
at the Huntington Park
Library. Also, Library staff
took the lead in networking
with other agencies, such as
the South Bay Center for
Counseling, to assist librarians
in handling the latchkey
workload.
Of the total circulation, 32 %
was to children. Circulation
rose 4 % despite fewer pro­grams
for children and a large
turnover in children's staff.
Special Reading Programs -
The Summer Reading Pro-gram,
traditional in the
Library since 1931, took the
theme, "Quest for the Best."
To exemplify the value of this
program, children's circula­tion
increased 8 % during the
program as compared to a 4 %
increase during the rest of the
year.
Children's Book Week -
Nearly 650 children entered a
bookmark design contest
which enticed children to read.
Fifty libraries joined in the op­tional
program in which Pentel
of America printed the win­ning
bookmarks and provided
prizes.
School Relatwns - Realizing
that close relations with the
schools is one of the most ef­fective
means of promoting
library services to children,
there was emphasis upon en­couraging
school classes to
visit the libraries. Thus 6,436
classes visited our libraries
bringing 159,587 students.
Storytimes - Librarians con­ducted
3,028 preschool story
programs for 72,766 children.
Enormous as this sounds, it
represented 13 .4 % fewer pro­grams
than the previous year
as library service patterns
shifted in response to increas-
4
Children delight in discovering the pleasures of reading
ed numbers of children in
daycare situations.
Year Around Reading Pro­gram
- Over 600 children par­ticipated
in this program
which was optional for
libraries.
PALS Project-Though LSCA
funds for this South State
Cooperative Library System
project concluded, volunteers
trained in the project continued
to reach rural Antelope Valley
children and to encourage their
use of library services.
Libraries throughout Los
Angeles County benefitted as
programming aids, puppets,
and slide tape presentations
were purchased by the Project
for each Region.
LIBRARY SERVICE
WAS ACCESSIBLE
Books by Mail - Circulation
was up 31 % by users remote
from a peonanent facility. The
three catalogs were used
primarily by citizens of the
Antelope Valley who ordered
and returned their books by
U.S. Mail.
Information and Referral
Services
CALL (CommuniJy Access
Library Line) - CALL gained
acclaim for its consistently
rapid, accurate, and courteous
service. This toll-free
telephone service attracted
9.8% more use. Working with
a short staff of 4 multilingual
librarians, 40,638 questions
were answered. This year's
statistics showed that calls
were mainly from Los
Angeles County and were
predominately from English
speakers. Despite the increas­ingly
sophisticated questions,
72 % were answered in less
than IO minutes. CALL's com­puter
noted that 30% to SO%
of the callers received a busy
signal when they dialed. This
caused a review of the staff
needed to meet the demand.
CHIPS (Consumer Hea/Jh
Information Program and
Services) - Use of this
telephone information line in­creased
27 % over last year.
This service is backed up by
the Carson Regional Library
staff who worked on over 700
of the 8,354 questions needing
extensive research. CHIPS
published numerous health­related
brochures and main­tained
excellent relations with
other health agencies in the
community including the A.
F. Parlow Library of the
Health Sciences at the Los
Angeles County Harbor­UCLA
Medical Center.
I
Chicano Resource Center celebrates its 10th Anniversary
Dial-a-Story - The service of­fered
multilingual children's
stories and entertained nearly
U9,000 callers.
Institutional Libraries - Ten in
number, they served the
County's jails, designated
hospitals, and probation
facmties. The Sheriff, Proba­tion,
and Health Departments
budgeted $466,733 for this
service. Books-by-Mail ser­vice
to the Barley Flats and
Mira Loma Probation facilities
was replaced with paperback
colJections on site.
LIBRARIANS FOUGHT
ILLITERACY
On a monthly average, in the
14 tutoring centers l20 tutors
worked with over l,000
students. Over the course of
the year, these tutors con­tributed
12,325 hours at
centers located in Quartz Hill,
Baldwin Park, San Gabriel,
Norwalk, Paramount, San
Fernando, Lynwood, and Car­son.
In the other centers,
students were tutored by
library staff. With the high de­mand
generated from the
California Literacy Campaign,
centers experienced long
waiting lists and offered
assistance only with self-study
materials until tutors became
available. Fund-raising for
literacy service became a
priority of the Los Angeles
County Library Foundation.
Three proposals were written
to seek additional funding for
literacy in anticipation of the
planned diminishing of State
CLSA funds over the next few
years.
Publication of READ-ON­WRITE-
ON, a Library­produced
newsletter, kept
tutors informed of good ideas.
With the exception of ESOL
(English for Speakers of Other
Languages), the Library's in­house
tutor training course re­quired
no payment of outside
trair1ers.
ELECTRONIC LEAPS
The Library took giant steps to
acquire and utilize equipment
to automate traditional pro­cesses
in order to offer better
service.
• The CD (compact disc)
catalog test at the Braken­siek
Library was well­received
by the staff and
public. Following the suc­cessful
test, covered by
such media as Newsweek
Magazine and lnfoworld,
the Library decided to
begin to shift its catalog to
the CD equipment as
replacement to the faltering
microfilm catalog equip­ment.
• On-line computer reference
service entered its second
year. A total of 895
s
Key statistical reports are generated on-line
searches were made at an
average time of 13 .6
minutes each.
• Telefacsimile equipment
enhanced reference service
with the addition of 16
machines. Smaller libraries
can now access the deeper
reference collections of the
larger libraries giving more
immediate service to
customers.
• On-line access to the
Library's catalog data base
was tested to rave reviews.
Based on the test, all
regional offices will be
connected on-line to the
catalog data base for quick
searches during order pro­cesses
and for catalog
database maintenance.
• Technical Services staff
produced the periodicals'
infonnation and shopping
list, the software order
lists, the microform order
list, and the government
documents order lists on
microcomputer.
• Records of the Anthony
Quinn collection, peri­odicals
fund accounting,
and Technical Services
statistical reports were
shifted to microcomputer
production.
• Data input about agencies
into the CALL computer
was streamlined. The ter­minals
were linked to
DIALOG enabling direct
searches from CALL ter­minals.
CALL' s statistical
tabulations were all done
by computer.
• Seventeen libraries con­tinued
to offer public access
microcomputers. Over
60,300 people used the
microcomputers and asked
138,000 questions related to
computers.
• Fiscal Services automated
key statistical reports in­cluding
monthly expen­diture
statements, grants
accounting and reporting,
grants' indirect cost pro­posals,
and budget detail
services and supplies and
salaries and employee
benefits.
• Utilization of microcom­puters
allowed audio-visual
orders to be placed on flop­py
disks which were
transferred from regions to
compose the departmental
order centrally in much
reduced time.
EMPHASIS ON
COLLECTION
DEVELOPMENT
Software collections for both
staff and public grew. Titles
:50
'40
30
Dollars 1n
M1Uioos
20
10
0
1000
900
800
700
600
Borrowenm
Thousands ~
400
300
200
100
0
77178 78n9 79/80
TOTAL BUDGET
306
i.::>/81 81 /';!2
Fiscal Year
6
5
4
Dollars 1n
Mdlion.s 3
2
32 '3
82/83 83184
4S 0
39~
84 /8'5 SS/86
LIBRARY MATERIALS EXPENDITURES
(Books, Periodicals, Audio-visual. ttc.)
3.3
3'
33
77 /78 78,'79 79/80 i.:)/81 81 /'in ';!2/83 83/84 94/85 85/86
Fiscal Year
REGlSTERED BORROWERS
868
nm 78m 79/80 80/81 81 /82 82/8! 83/84 84/85 85/86
Fiscal Year
6
SOURCE OF
Propeny Tu 351t.
SOURCE OF LIBRAR
Reserves 17"
Y F1JNDS 1985/86
Reser,,es JO'l
tARY FUNDS 1mns
Speciol Dl5tr1Cl
Augmentation Funds
41\11:
Circulation in
Millions
Property Tu 1 I ll
8
6
◄
2
0
Questions 1n
Millions
12
8
6
2
0
REFERENCE QUESTIONS
11118 19rn 19180 eo/81 81/82 82/83 83/84 84/85 85/86
LfflRARY MATERIAL CIRCULATIOS
n n8 78n9 79/80 eo/81 911s2 82/83 83/84 &1/85 85/86
Fiscal Year
Fiscal Year
CAPITAL PROJECTS BL'DGET
2000
1990
1800 6<!·
IS7S 1583
1600
1400
1200
Doll•~ in 1000 Tbollsands
800
600
400
2C(i
0 0
0
n/78 78n9 79/80 90/81 81 /82 82/83 83/84
Fiscal Year
7
84/ffS 85/86
still do not circulate. There are
984 units and 225 titles
available. For the first time,
public titles were cataloged.
The 16mm film collection was
condensed to its best titles.
This deliberate diminishing of
the size was balanced with the
strengthening of the popular
videocassette collection.
Procedures were produced to
assist staff in collection inven­tory
including holding up­dates,
weeding procedures,
and gift processing.
Lesser-demanded foreign
language collections were con­solidated
into fewer numbers
with stronger and better title
selection.
The Periodicals budget grew
to $800,000. Of this, 47% was
spent on book titles which are
ordered on a periodic basis,
indexes, and newspapers. The
remaining $420,000 was spent
for magazines.
Of the Library's 91 locations,
63 sites now provide
videocassette collections.
Twenty new locations were
added this year. In addition to
these free-of~harge services,
Friends of the Library groups
also have 22 collections which
circulate videocassettes for a
small fund-raising fee. Cir­culation
reached 379,000, a
56% increase over last year.
The audiocassette collection,
including talking books, in­creased
by 1.2% to 41,000
units. Following the successful
experiment with compact discs
last year, nine more sites of­fered
compact discs bringing
the total outlets to 12. At the
same time, there was
deliberate slowing of growth
in the phonorecord collection
which decreased by 5. 3 % to
93,994 units.
The first fine-free period since
1981 allowed people to return
overdue materials free of
charge. Intending to recover
many materials and confirm
the accuracy of the catalog in
preparation for the automated
circulation system, the 2-week
period saw the return of
63,603 books, enough to fill a
medium-sized library. If the
books bad never returned, the
replacement cost would have
been $1,007,483.
PROGRAM PIZZAZZ
The Library considers public
programs to be an important
method of promoting library
use. A profile exemplifying
the myriad of programs
follows:
One hundred and twenty pro­grams
were presented about
microcomputers ranging from
formal classes, computer com­fort
training, to software
demonstrations and children's
preschool programs. Nearly
Audio-visual services staff prepares a slide presentation
8
37,000 people attended these
programs.
A tribute to Martin Luther
King Jr. honored Coretta Scott
King at the annual February
Black History Tribute. The
moving program was attended
by a standing room only
crowd at the A C Bilbrew
Library. Prior to this program,
the Bilbrew Library exhibited
the Martin Luther King art
show, "His Light Still
Shines.'' The exhibit, produc­ed
and sponsored by
McDonald's Restaurant
Owners of Southern Califor­nia,
was attended by thousands
including many school classes.
The Library was proud to be
the only library site for this ex­hibit
on its United States tour.
The City of Lakewood
cooperated with the Library to
produce six segments of
"Read Me a Story" for cable
viewing. September, 1985, and
April, 1986, were designated
as library months with cable
programming highlighting
library service.
In South Gate, the Leland R.
Weaver Library was the site
for a Stamp Collecting Fair.
The library was designated a
U.S. Post Office for the day
with schools, the South Gate
Post Office, and the South
Gate City Council par­ticipating.
The Library Post
Office Fair, complete with its
own postmark, served 700
students.
The Norwalk Library staff
produced and hosted the final
contest of the Los Angeles
County Public Library
Foundation-funded and Na­tional
Association of Counties
award winning student story­telling
contest.
KTLA television continued to
produce the Library Nook, a
monthly talk show segment
to inform the public about the
varied services of the Los
Angeles County Public
Library.
The Chinese Feature Film
Series attracted 2,740 people.
Publicity received a boost
when Ed Olmos, ''Miami
Vice" star, shot a public ser­vice
announcement urging
people to use the Los Angeles
County Public Library.
The Library was one of the
sponsoring agencies for the
"Anne Frank in the World"
exhibit.
During National Library
Week in April, Library staff
and supporters attended a
reception to honor State
legislators and to thank them
for supporting important
library legislation such as the
Public Library Fund, the
California Literacy Program,
and the California Library
Services Act. Among those at-
Anthony Quinn donates memorabilia to the Library
tending the gala at the Brand
Library and Art Center in
Glendale were Assemblymen
Charles Calderon, Richard
Floyd, and Michael Roos, and
Senators Paul Carpenter and
Herschel Rosenthal.
Best seller author, Irving
Stone, dazzled an audience at
the new La Verne Library.
Linda Crismond, County
Librarian, was a featured
speaker at the South State
Cooperative Library System
program, "Diversity by
Design." She joined futurist,
Hank Koehn, and Roger Greer
of the University of Southern
California School of Library
and Information Management,
to examine the place of the
library in the future.
Staff participated in the
various charitable giving cam­paigns
including the Blood­mobile,
U.S. Savings Bonds,
Statue of Liberty drive, Walk
America, United Way, and the
Brotherhood Crusade. We
were truly a giving staff.
Over 400 people gathered to
celebrate National Library
Week at the annual breakfast.
Author, David Chagall, Na­tional
Book A wards nominee
and author of "The New
Kingmakers," was the
keynote speaker during the
week which urged, "Get a
Head Start at the Library."
RESEARCH CENTERS
SERVED WITH IDGH
EXPERTISE
The Afro-American Resource
Center had a 70% increase in
reference questions with near­ly
16,000 audio-visual items
circulated. The Center produc­ed
a bibliography for use with
television station KCET's
special program, "Africans."
The American Indian
Resource Center had a cir­culation
increase of 134 % with
reference questions increasing
by 156%. The Center con­ducted
or participated in 86
community programs reaching
nearly 6,000 people. Staff
received strong press coverage
including time on American
Indian Airwaves and publici­ty
in Talking Leaf and Refer­ence
Quarterly magazines.
The Asian Pacific Resource
Center continued its participa­tion
with major community
organizations such as the
Chinese Interagency Council
and the Los Angeles Mayor's
Asian Pacific American
Heritage Week Committee.
ERIC requested permission to
include 16 Center subject
bibliographies in its database.
The Chicano Resource Center
celebrated its 10th anniversary
with special programs and a
conference, "Chicano Ex­perience,
1976 to 1986' ·
Irving Stone autographs a copy of his book for County
Librarian, Linda Crismond
9
highlighting Dr. Richard San­tillan,
Assistant Professor at
Cal Poly Pomona, Maclovio
Perez, Weatherman, KCBS
Channel 2 News, Dolores
Sanchez, Publisher of Basten
Group Publications, and
Carlos Barron, Mexican
American Education Commis­sion
of the Los Angeles
Unified School District.
The Center experienced four
times the number of reference
questions over the previous
year. Strong relations were
maintained with the Latin
Business Association and the
Hispanic Volunteer Council.
CREATIVE
FUND-RAISING
BROUGHT
SUBSTANTIAL
REVENUE
Grants: Literacy Centers
$ll9,406 (CLSA)
California Public Library
Fund $2,181,624
State funding provided monies
to enhance the book collection,
refurbish libraries, buy
telefacsimile equipment,
develop the collection, and
enhance services. This year
was $781,596 more than last.
Los Angeles County
Public Library Foundation
$20,492
Funds supported the annual
Library Week Breakfast, the
Living Black History tribute,
and electronic equipment at
the libraries in Lakewood.
Gifts
Gifts totaling $29,660 were
received from the private
sector.
Friends of the Library groups
raised $ll7 ,291 to support the
Library.
City Support
Cities responded to requests
from the County Librarian to
supplement basic service by
contributing $15,375.
Corporate and Individual
Contributions
This year, corporate and in­dividual
gifts totalled $29,660.
Examples of major gifts:
• The Monterey Bookstore,
upon business closure,
donated its entire inventory
valued at $15,000. Books
enhanced collections at the
Anthony Quinn, and the El
Camino Real Libraries.
• Actor, sculptor Anthony
Quinn made a substantial
gift of his memorabilia,
books, and paintings.
STRONG COMMUNITY
SUPPORT
Friends of the Library groups
numbered 55. Friends and
supporters gave strong support
for legislation for libraries.
Thanks to their communica­tion
to legislators, funds for
the Public Library Fund and
for literacy were increased.
Despite intense lobbying, bills
to allow the electorate to vote
on bonds to construct libraries
failed.
This year our goal was achiev­ed
to have a volunteer pro­gram
in every library.
Volunteers put in 85,37l
hours, the equivalent of 41 full
time employees. If these
volunteers would have been on
the paid staff roster, it would
have cost the, Library
$365,000 at the Page pay rate.
Thirty-one of the 48 cities
served issued National Library
Week proclamations.
The City of Pico Rivera
studied its library service and
concluded that the County
Library is providing residents
with very satisfactory and cost
effective service.
AWA:RDSRmJGNIZID
OUTSTANDING
ACCOMPLISHMENTS
Honors to Outstanding Staff
Each year the Los Angeles
County Public Library staff
honors exemplary fellow
workers for their outstanding
library service.
Andrea Kish, Children's
Librarian at the Canyon Coun­try
Library, received the
Charlotte A ward given for
outstanding service to
children.
Willard Cormier, Decentraliz­ed
Maintenance Worker in
Central Region, received the
Library's Support Staff
Award.
The Technical Services,
Bibliographic Access, staff
members shared as a team the
annual Productivity A ward for
their tremendous rate of
preparing cataloging records
for the anticipated automated
circulation system. As com­pared
to last year there was a
29 % increase in items process­ed
and distributed.
Robert Johnston, lead
Reference Librarian at the
West Covina Library, won the
Librarian of the Year Award.
Nina David, Senior Librarian
at the Marina del Rey Library,
was honored at the Los
Angeles County Second An­nual
Volunteer Program Fall
Conference as the Library's
nominee for Departmental
Outstanding Volunteer Team
Staff Member.
Vesta Bruner Scholarships of
$500 each, supported by
Library staff, were awarded to
5 staff members as a means to
support continued education of
Library employees. The
names of Anita Estrella, Tam­my
Ferranti, Nerses
Gezalyan, Thuy Thanh Le,
and Alma Ramirez were add­ed
to the scroll of recipients
which was hung for the first
time on the history wall of
Library Headquarters.
Norma Montero, Children's
Librarian at the Leland R.
Weaver Library, was
nominated as the County
Employee of the Month.
Honors to Outstanding
Citizens
Dale Buboltz, Librarian at the
South Gate Jr. High School,
received the Library's Citizen
of the Year Award for out­standing
contributions leading
to the success of the Post Of­fice
For a Day program at the
Leland R. Weaver Library and
for many years of integrating
the efforts of school and public
libraries to help children.
Ann K. Beil, literacy
volunteer at the San Fernando
Library, was nominated for
the President's Volunteer Ac­tion
Award.
Honors to the Library for
Outstanding Service
The Library was awarded a
certificate of appreciation
from the Brotherhood Crusade
for increased staff contribu­tions
to charity.
The Library also received the
Achievement Award for its in­crease
in employee purchases
of U.S. Savings Bonds.
NACO (National Association
of Counties) Awards were
received for two programs:
Student Storytelling Festival
and the Spanish Language
Film Series.
The Library Headquarters
building, constructed in 1983,
won one of 10 beautification
Awards given by the Downey
Chamber of Commerce in
conjunction with the City of
Downey.
The State Bar of California
recognized the Los Angeles
County Public Library for its
contribution to the translation
into Chinese and Spanish of
the pamphlets, "What Should
I Do if I Have an Auto Acci­dent,"
"Do I Need a Will?",
and "How Do I Use the Small
Claims Court?"
A YEAR OF PLAN­NING
AND CHANGE
Intensive planning is under­way
for the Library's
automated circulation system
which will be the largest such
application in the country to
date. Staff received strong
support from experts in the
Data Processing, Chief Ad­ministrative
Office, Purchas­ing
and Stores, and Facilities
Management Departments and
the outside consultant, Hank
Epstein, Information Trans­form,
Inc., to prepare the
detailed 1,750 page Request
for Proposals.
The cataloging staff of the
Bibliographic Access Unit
joined with library staff to in­crease
the number of accurate
records in the catalog for
smooth conversion to the
automated circulation system.
10
Staff from the Data Processing
and Facilities Management
Departments joined with
library staff on an innovative
team effort to visit together
each library facility to plan and
prepare needed building
modifications for the coming
automation. The plan worked
flawlessly with the blueprints
prepared within the scheduled
six months, February through
July, and with actual conduit
installation completed in 18
libraries by June 30th.
Six staff-composed groups
worked hard to prepare for the
automated circulation system
in areas of public relations,
training, file building issues,
site preparation, support and
supplies, and proposal
preparation.
A study of the informational
needs of the Antelope Valley
residents began, under the
sponsorship of the South State
Cooperative Library System,
Linda Crismond and Kathi Grant
Scholarship to Anita Estrella and
to determine the need for
buildings in the most rapidly
growing area of the County.
Purchase options were picked
up for the Duarte, Canyon
Country, Las Virgenes, and
South Whittier Libraries, con­tinuing
the Library's fiscal
strategy to own most or all of
its buildings and gradually
diminish its lease expen­ditures.
At the end of this
year, the Library owned 64 of
its 92 buildings representing
real property ownership of
895,728 square fee.t.
The leased Vine Avenue
Library was closed due to low
business levels. This library's
staff and resources were
redirected to enhance service
at the two remaining libraries
in West Covina. One of the
two bookmobiles in the East
County Region was reassign­ed
to the North County Region
to help meet the expanding
population demands in a time
of inability to fund capital
projects.
Capital needs grew faster than
the ability to finance them.
Despite strong lobbying ef­forts,
the State legislature
allowed a bill to die which
would have enabled the elec­torate
to vote on a library con­struction
bond issue.
• The Library seized an op­portunity
and began plans
to move the existing
present a Vesta Bruner
Nerses Geuilyan
Willowbrook Library to a
secure shopping center.
Financing for the new leas­ed
space will come from
either leasing or selling the
existing building.
• The building housing the
South Whittier Library was
purchased with the intent of
expanding that library into
more of the larger building.
Though plans were ready,
there was a delay when
proposed LSCA funds,
necessary to the project,
were not awarded.
• Active planning is under­way
for several new, ex­panded,
or replacement
libraries including Hawaiian
Gardens, Lawndale, San
Fernando, Agoura Hills,
Westlake Village, Lan­caster,
Marina de! Rey, and
Del Mar in the City of
Rosemead.
SAFE, SECURE
ENVIRONMENT WAS
MAINTAINED
Emergency lighting systems
were added in lO libraries
bringing the total to 71.
Unanticipated reflooring was
necessary when sprinkler
flooding followed a book
return receptacle fire at the
Bell Gardens Library. This
fire, plus the fire at the Los
Angeles Public Library's Cen­tral
Library, initiated a hard
look at fire prevention. Work
on an emergency manual is
well underway.
The excellent downward trend
of staff vehicular accidents
continued. The fleet of 47
vehicles plus mileage permit­tees
driving 426,861 miles
reported only 7 accidents.
An armed security guard was
placed at the Compton
Library. This pilot project, us­ing
a Countywide agreement,
will help Library managers
make future decisions about
the value of this service for
other libraries experiencing
high vandalism and disruptive
behavior.
Reports of property loss in
libraries diminished by 35 % as
compared to the previous
year.
While air conditioning repairs
diminished by 22 % with the
strong preventive maintenance
program, roof leaks doubled.
Maintenance staff were given
training in spotting safety and
health hazards and incor­porated
this knowledge into
their regular inspections of the
buildings.
PRODUCTIVITY
INCREASED
Additional services were con­tracted
to assure cost savings
and improved service.
Twenty-six facilities in the
West, Southwest, and
Southeast Regions had their
grounds maintenance shifted
to a private contractor. The
Library realized a 44 % sav­ings
as compared with the
same work done previously by
the County Department of
Parks and Recreation. The re­maining
3 regions will be con­tracted
next year.
Processing of the videocassette
and film collection was
transferred to Technical Ser­vices
from Public Services.
An agreement with a private
vendor allowed the cataloging
backlog to be eliminated and
sped the videocassettes to the
public shelves.
Productivity interns from the
University of Southern
California assisted the Library
in securing more cost effective
programs for two projects:
forms management and
streamlining of the job requisi­tion
process.
II
The program for audits of
community library monies
reviewed the cash handling
procedures at 17 libraries.
Computer-produced book
labels allowed 29% more
books to be processed and
allowed redeployment of ex­cess
staff to other processing
functions while saving $.07
per book processed.
Technical Services achieved
higher productivity by
streamlining the book order
process, utilizing Library
Assistants to do copy catalog­ing,
and eliminating one card
file.
Telephones were converted to
touchtone in 74 buildings
readying staff to utilize the
new County telephone system,
COMPASS.
PERSONNEL COPED
WITH CHANGE
The bi-monthly Librarian ex­am,
coupled with active cam­pus
recruitment efforts, helped
to fill vacancies more quickly
than before. However, the
typical region faced an
average turnover rate of 30%
due to retirements, resigna­tions,
or transfers. On the
average, a Regional Ad­ministrative
Librarian spent
one and a half months of the
year .in filling vacancies. This
year 21 Librarians and 3 Senior
Librarians left the Library.
Administrative Services staff
experienced extreme vacancy
problems which required hir­ing
temporary help to handle
the workload increases. Dur­ing
one 6-week period, the
Personnel Office worked with
only 40% of its staff. Solutions
will be sought for assuring
greater full time staff stability.
The Technical Services Divi­sion
coped with a 37 % turn­over
in staff.
Planning began this year on
reorganizing the Public Ser­vices
Division to offer better
career ladders, even the
distribution of the overall
work, strengthen the front line
staff, and reduce the span of
control.
Payroll functions were shifted
from the Fiscal to the Personal
Office.
TRAINING
The focus of the Library's
training program offers a
glimpse of areas in which
there is need for strengthing
the staff ability to serve the
public.
• Technical Services staff of­fered
mending workshops
in five regions. This helped
staff retain important
materials.
• Public Services staff receiv­ed
additional search dex­terity
after having training
in on-line DIALOG
database searching.
• Computer expertise was the
focus of a great deal of
training with staff learning
new software programs to
support their work and
reporting functions.
• Training to cope with pro­blematic
patrons, such as
those under the influence of
drugs, was available.
• Sessions on handling stress
helped staff deal with the
increasing workloads.
• Over 80 staff received a
3-day training session on
supervision.
• Paraprofessional staff
learned reference techni­ques
to help professional
librarians deal with the
tremendous increase in de­mand
for information.
• Staff in all divisions receiv­ed
training which con­tributed
to the smooth shift
to the Fair Labor Standards
Act (FLSA) overtime
standards.
• Cataloging staff improved
productivity after three ses­sions
of training on the sub­ject
of accuracy.
• Maintenance staff spent
214 manhours in safety
classes.
• An excellent State Library­sponsored
telecommunica­tions
workshop offered
relevant information for
current and future
communications.
• Children's Services con­tinued
its comprehensive
5-week course of orienta­tion
for new children's
librarians. Funds from the
South State Cooperative
System allowed the addi­tion
of a three hour seg­ment
by Ann Polkingham
and Catherine Toohey
focusing on creative uses of
the book.
• The Children's Book and
Music Store and Greg and
Steve from Youngheart
Records trained staff in
how to use audio recor­dings
with children. The
enjoyable learning ex­perience
was aptly named,
"Put Your Ear to It."
I
.I
12

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We saluted the Statue of Liberty
on its 100th Birthday
Productivity was the theme of the year. Productive innova­tions
helped Library staff cope with increases in business
demand. It was a successful race to keep ahead of service
demand within existing resources. In all divisions of the
Library there was constant switching of manual tasks such
as statistical reports to microcomputer data bases. Many
segments of the Library manuals were revised and improved.
Several studies were completed to help management posture
for a better operation in the future. These included the
Antelope Valley Study of the next decade's information
needs, sophistication and automation of the Library Activi­ty
Index, and a study of reference patterns within a lai:ge
library. The City of Pomona asked the County Library to
analyze provision of library service to the City.
It was an active labor year during which a one-day staff work
action closed 66 of the 91 libraries. Bonuses for library super­visors
were implemented as was the Fair Labor Standards
Act policy for overtime. Planning began for a major Public
Services reorganization effort.
While recovering from an arson fire at our own Bell Gardens
Library, the shocking news reached us of the fire at the
historic Central Library of the Los Angeles Public Library
(LAPL). Many Los Angeles County librarians rushed to help
salvage the books. Librarians ably served the increased
demands of the fire-displaced patrons of LAPL.
The slowing of the growth in materials' circulation can be
attributed to many projects including an unusually high
number of building closures due to building renovations, in­stallation
of conduit in preparation for the automated circula­tion
system, and the nearly two month closure of the A C
Bilbrew Library for the Martin Luther King Jr. Exhibit and
Tribute.
It was a year of frustration as high hopes were dashed when
the legislature failed to approve a bill to allow the electorate
to vote on bonds for library construction. It was also a year
of happiness in which the Governor added funding to the
Public Library Fund and to the literacy program.
We were saddened by the death of Marion Williams,
a staff member who per­sonified
the general staff ex­cellence
and was the first
employee honored as the
County Employee of the
Month.
This year managers made
3,076 visits to libraries with all
libraries visited at least once
during the year.
Highlights among the goals for
next year are reorganization of
the Public Services Division,
selection of a vendor to pro­vide
the Library's automated
circulation system, and open­ing
of a new replacement library in Willowbrook.
Linda F. Crismond
County Librarian
PUBLIC LIBRARY BUDGET
1984 - 85 198S - 86 Change
Salaries & Employee
Benefits
$ 19,578,753 $20,155,319 $ 576,566
Services & Supplies 17,559,973 21,372,861 3,812,888
Fixed Assets 1,126,403 119031585 7771182
$ 38,265,129 $43,431,765 $ 5,166,636
General Reserves 410,000 410,000 -0-
Est. Delinquency 8341866 11224!127 389,261
Requirements $ 39,509,995 $ 45,0651892 $ 5.555,897
Surplus $2,815,879 $ 4,523,201 $ 1,707.322
Revenue 5,229,051 6,197,449 968,398
Augmentation Funds 16,911,800 18,490,840 1,579,040
Tax Levy 14.5531265 151854,402 1,301 , 137
Available Funds $ 39,5091995 $ 45,0651892 $ 525551897
2
3
YEAR AT A GLANCE
The 91 libraries, 6 bookmobiles, and 10 institutional libraries
were open 249,860 hours of service with a staff of 1,396.
Services and Resources Compared to Last Year
11,795,164 materials a 1.0% increase
borrowed per capita, 45,365
per day
2,640,000 materials used in
libraries took 46,000 page
hours to reshelve
ll,189,314 questions were
answered with 648,725
more questions asked than
last year, 43,035 daily
$45.0 million operations
budget
935,921 people registered
with 17,835 new registrants
279,665 cataloged books
were added
25,346 cataloged titles were
added
72,766 children enjoyed
storytime
4,461 people belonged to 55
Friends groups
I, 719 volunteers contributed
85,371 hours
$436,374 contributions
enhanced the basic budget
231 articles were written
about the Library; 21 radio
and television programs
featured the Library.
adds another 23 .0 %
a 6. 2 % increase
a 13.9% increase
a 1. 9 % increase
a 29.0% increase
an increase of 22.9%
an 8 % decrease
a . 3 % increase in
membership
a 17.6% increase in
hours
a 124.7% increase in
dollars contributed
DISTRIBUTION OF TOTAL BUDGET
1985186
Services and
Supplies 38%
Major Equipment/
Suucrures 4%
Salaries 46%
- Literacy student and tutor study at Library Language Leaming
Center
Service Responded
To People's Needs
The Los Angeles County
Public Library staff continued
with a strong, helpful service
orientation. This service
catered to the unique
characteristics of the widely
varied population living in the
3,100 square mile service area.
A sampling of programs
follow:
LIBRARIES SERVED
CHILDREN
Though the County identified
l,500 unattended (latchkey)
children in libraries each day,
progress was made in helping
librarians handle the situation.
The Woodcraft Rangers, with
United Way funding, con­ducted
a six month pilot pro­gram
at the Huntington Park
Library. Also, Library staff
took the lead in networking
with other agencies, such as
the South Bay Center for
Counseling, to assist librarians
in handling the latchkey
workload.
Of the total circulation, 32 %
was to children. Circulation
rose 4 % despite fewer pro­grams
for children and a large
turnover in children's staff.
Special Reading Programs -
The Summer Reading Pro-gram,
traditional in the
Library since 1931, took the
theme, "Quest for the Best."
To exemplify the value of this
program, children's circula­tion
increased 8 % during the
program as compared to a 4 %
increase during the rest of the
year.
Children's Book Week -
Nearly 650 children entered a
bookmark design contest
which enticed children to read.
Fifty libraries joined in the op­tional
program in which Pentel
of America printed the win­ning
bookmarks and provided
prizes.
School Relatwns - Realizing
that close relations with the
schools is one of the most ef­fective
means of promoting
library services to children,
there was emphasis upon en­couraging
school classes to
visit the libraries. Thus 6,436
classes visited our libraries
bringing 159,587 students.
Storytimes - Librarians con­ducted
3,028 preschool story
programs for 72,766 children.
Enormous as this sounds, it
represented 13 .4 % fewer pro­grams
than the previous year
as library service patterns
shifted in response to increas-
4
Children delight in discovering the pleasures of reading
ed numbers of children in
daycare situations.
Year Around Reading Pro­gram
- Over 600 children par­ticipated
in this program
which was optional for
libraries.
PALS Project-Though LSCA
funds for this South State
Cooperative Library System
project concluded, volunteers
trained in the project continued
to reach rural Antelope Valley
children and to encourage their
use of library services.
Libraries throughout Los
Angeles County benefitted as
programming aids, puppets,
and slide tape presentations
were purchased by the Project
for each Region.
LIBRARY SERVICE
WAS ACCESSIBLE
Books by Mail - Circulation
was up 31 % by users remote
from a peonanent facility. The
three catalogs were used
primarily by citizens of the
Antelope Valley who ordered
and returned their books by
U.S. Mail.
Information and Referral
Services
CALL (CommuniJy Access
Library Line) - CALL gained
acclaim for its consistently
rapid, accurate, and courteous
service. This toll-free
telephone service attracted
9.8% more use. Working with
a short staff of 4 multilingual
librarians, 40,638 questions
were answered. This year's
statistics showed that calls
were mainly from Los
Angeles County and were
predominately from English
speakers. Despite the increas­ingly
sophisticated questions,
72 % were answered in less
than IO minutes. CALL's com­puter
noted that 30% to SO%
of the callers received a busy
signal when they dialed. This
caused a review of the staff
needed to meet the demand.
CHIPS (Consumer Hea/Jh
Information Program and
Services) - Use of this
telephone information line in­creased
27 % over last year.
This service is backed up by
the Carson Regional Library
staff who worked on over 700
of the 8,354 questions needing
extensive research. CHIPS
published numerous health­related
brochures and main­tained
excellent relations with
other health agencies in the
community including the A.
F. Parlow Library of the
Health Sciences at the Los
Angeles County Harbor­UCLA
Medical Center.
I
Chicano Resource Center celebrates its 10th Anniversary
Dial-a-Story - The service of­fered
multilingual children's
stories and entertained nearly
U9,000 callers.
Institutional Libraries - Ten in
number, they served the
County's jails, designated
hospitals, and probation
facmties. The Sheriff, Proba­tion,
and Health Departments
budgeted $466,733 for this
service. Books-by-Mail ser­vice
to the Barley Flats and
Mira Loma Probation facilities
was replaced with paperback
colJections on site.
LIBRARIANS FOUGHT
ILLITERACY
On a monthly average, in the
14 tutoring centers l20 tutors
worked with over l,000
students. Over the course of
the year, these tutors con­tributed
12,325 hours at
centers located in Quartz Hill,
Baldwin Park, San Gabriel,
Norwalk, Paramount, San
Fernando, Lynwood, and Car­son.
In the other centers,
students were tutored by
library staff. With the high de­mand
generated from the
California Literacy Campaign,
centers experienced long
waiting lists and offered
assistance only with self-study
materials until tutors became
available. Fund-raising for
literacy service became a
priority of the Los Angeles
County Library Foundation.
Three proposals were written
to seek additional funding for
literacy in anticipation of the
planned diminishing of State
CLSA funds over the next few
years.
Publication of READ-ON­WRITE-
ON, a Library­produced
newsletter, kept
tutors informed of good ideas.
With the exception of ESOL
(English for Speakers of Other
Languages), the Library's in­house
tutor training course re­quired
no payment of outside
trair1ers.
ELECTRONIC LEAPS
The Library took giant steps to
acquire and utilize equipment
to automate traditional pro­cesses
in order to offer better
service.
• The CD (compact disc)
catalog test at the Braken­siek
Library was well­received
by the staff and
public. Following the suc­cessful
test, covered by
such media as Newsweek
Magazine and lnfoworld,
the Library decided to
begin to shift its catalog to
the CD equipment as
replacement to the faltering
microfilm catalog equip­ment.
• On-line computer reference
service entered its second
year. A total of 895
s
Key statistical reports are generated on-line
searches were made at an
average time of 13 .6
minutes each.
• Telefacsimile equipment
enhanced reference service
with the addition of 16
machines. Smaller libraries
can now access the deeper
reference collections of the
larger libraries giving more
immediate service to
customers.
• On-line access to the
Library's catalog data base
was tested to rave reviews.
Based on the test, all
regional offices will be
connected on-line to the
catalog data base for quick
searches during order pro­cesses
and for catalog
database maintenance.
• Technical Services staff
produced the periodicals'
infonnation and shopping
list, the software order
lists, the microform order
list, and the government
documents order lists on
microcomputer.
• Records of the Anthony
Quinn collection, peri­odicals
fund accounting,
and Technical Services
statistical reports were
shifted to microcomputer
production.
• Data input about agencies
into the CALL computer
was streamlined. The ter­minals
were linked to
DIALOG enabling direct
searches from CALL ter­minals.
CALL' s statistical
tabulations were all done
by computer.
• Seventeen libraries con­tinued
to offer public access
microcomputers. Over
60,300 people used the
microcomputers and asked
138,000 questions related to
computers.
• Fiscal Services automated
key statistical reports in­cluding
monthly expen­diture
statements, grants
accounting and reporting,
grants' indirect cost pro­posals,
and budget detail
services and supplies and
salaries and employee
benefits.
• Utilization of microcom­puters
allowed audio-visual
orders to be placed on flop­py
disks which were
transferred from regions to
compose the departmental
order centrally in much
reduced time.
EMPHASIS ON
COLLECTION
DEVELOPMENT
Software collections for both
staff and public grew. Titles
:50
'40
30
Dollars 1n
M1Uioos
20
10
0
1000
900
800
700
600
Borrowenm
Thousands ~
400
300
200
100
0
77178 78n9 79/80
TOTAL BUDGET
306
i.::>/81 81 /';!2
Fiscal Year
6
5
4
Dollars 1n
Mdlion.s 3
2
32 '3
82/83 83184
4S 0
39~
84 /8'5 SS/86
LIBRARY MATERIALS EXPENDITURES
(Books, Periodicals, Audio-visual. ttc.)
3.3
3'
33
77 /78 78,'79 79/80 i.:)/81 81 /'in ';!2/83 83/84 94/85 85/86
Fiscal Year
REGlSTERED BORROWERS
868
nm 78m 79/80 80/81 81 /82 82/8! 83/84 84/85 85/86
Fiscal Year
6
SOURCE OF
Propeny Tu 351t.
SOURCE OF LIBRAR
Reserves 17"
Y F1JNDS 1985/86
Reser,,es JO'l
tARY FUNDS 1mns
Speciol Dl5tr1Cl
Augmentation Funds
41\11:
Circulation in
Millions
Property Tu 1 I ll
8
6
◄
2
0
Questions 1n
Millions
12
8
6
2
0
REFERENCE QUESTIONS
11118 19rn 19180 eo/81 81/82 82/83 83/84 84/85 85/86
LfflRARY MATERIAL CIRCULATIOS
n n8 78n9 79/80 eo/81 911s2 82/83 83/84 &1/85 85/86
Fiscal Year
Fiscal Year
CAPITAL PROJECTS BL'DGET
2000
1990
1800 6